Rorik shook his head. He seemed exhausted. “I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me the full story. All I know is what I saw with my own eyes—and that was a dark dragon burning down my village, burying half my clan mates, and killing the clan’s highest-ranking alpha in front of everybody.”
A dark dragon?None of us have dark scales.
Except maybe…
My blood froze in my veins.
I didn’t want to say it. I didn’t even want to think it. But Rorik’s tale put the idea in my mind, and I couldn’t get it out. I was painfully torn between revealing the truth and living in ignorance. Between my family, and my fated mate.
“Saffron?” Rorik asked in concern. “What is it?”
Suddenly terrified, I huddled closer to him. His warmth and scent comforted me, but it wasn’t enough to dispel my fear.
“If I know who it was,” I whispered, brittle with terror, “you won’t abandon me, will you?”
Rorik frowned, sympathy flashing in his eyes. “No. Never.”
“What if… what if it was someone in my family?”
“It was notyou,” Rorik stated.
He held me closer. Our bodies were flush, like one being. Still, I was scared. I didn’t want Rorik to push me away. Not now. Not after all we’d been through.
“Saffron, look at me.”
As I glanced at my big, beautiful bear, I felt pathetic as an alpha. I was supposed to be strong. I was supposed to be the one protecting Rorik. But here I was, shaking like a leaf because of something I had no control over.
“Tell me why you’re frightened,” Rorik urged in a gentle, firm tone.
I breathed out. “I… used to have a boyfriend. Billy. He was human. I thought he loved me, but he only loved the idea of me. A wealthy alpha dragon.” My throat tightened. “He couldn’t even tell me and Aurum apart.”
Rorik held me closer. I noticed he was trembling, too. “I have a confession to make. When I attacked Aurum in the forest, there was a horrible second where I thought he wasyou. In that second, I lost all hope. I knew that if I’d hurt you, the light of my life, I could never live with myself.”
I blinked at him, my eyes hot with tears. “Did you just call me the light of your life?” I chuckled wetly. “That’s gay, dude.”
Rorik’s cheeks turned bright pink. “It’s true,” he grumbled. He angled his face to press his forehead against mine. “I’m sorry. I could distinguish you two in a heartbeat, but in the moment, I was possessed. I was evil,” he added, choking with disgust.
“You were not,” I argued.
“I was. Because I let cruelty take over. I wasn’t thinking for myself.” His eyes flashed again, bright and clear. “But that version of Rorik does not exist anymore. I promise you that, Saffron.”
My heart fluttered with affection. “I know, Rorik. It’s okay. Don’t apologize anymore.”
We cuddled in silence, soaking up each other’s embrace. It felt like a weight had been lifted off our combined shoulders.
But there was still one more thing bothering me, and though our bond was secure, I wasn’t sure how to forge ahead.
“Rorik,” I murmured. “The dark dragon you mentioned. Were its scales a deep shade of purple?”
In Rorik’s long beat of hesitation, there was a hidden understanding: he knew that I knew the dragon’s identity, and he recognized how difficult it was for me to speak his name.
Finally, Rorik said: “Yes.”
A shudder ran down my spine. But Rorik didn’t let go, or push me away. He held me closer in a silent promise to stay by my side, whatever happened.
Even though his old enemy shared my blood.
17
